Subject: What is this flying bug Geographic location of the bug: Sacramento California Date: 11/05/2018 Time: 10:50 PM EDT Your letter to the bugman: This was buzzing at me fairly large dont know what it is. How you want your letter signed: Weirdbug

Ichneumon, we believe

Dear Weirdbug, This sure looks like an Ichneumon to us, or some other parasitoid wasp, but we have not had any luck with a definitive identity. We wish there was more detail in your image. Ichneumons are parasitoid Wasps that are considered important biological control agents for caterpillars and other insects. According to BugGuide: “a great variety of hosts (mostly immature stages) is used, though most species attack only a few host types; some infest spiders and other non-insect arthropods.” The wing veination on your individual appears very similar to the drawing on Le Monde des Insectes.

Related posts:

Subject: Crane fly? Wasp? Geographic location of the bug: Pittsburgh, PA Date: 10/03/2018 Time: 11:54 PM EDT Your letter to the bugman: Thought it was a crane fly, but most images I could find did not show crane fly with curled antennae. How you want your letter signed: Stacy

Ichneumon

Dear Stacy, This is an Ichneumon, a parasitoid wasp, not a Crane Fly. We suspect that many reported Crane Fly stings are actually from Ichneumons.

Subject: need help identifying this wasp Geographic location of the bug: Occoquan NWR, Occoquan Virginia Date: 09/22/2018 Time: 08:33 PM EDT Your letter to the bugman: Once more I must ask for you excellent help. I cannot seem to find what species this attractive wasp is in any of my usual resources (including your wonderful site, of course!) Thanks very much in advance. How you want your letter signed: Seth

Male Ichneumon: Lymeon orbus possibly

Dear Seth, This is a parasitoid wasp in the family Ichneumonidae, and according to BugGuide: “~5,000 described spp. in almost 500 genera in the Nearctic Region, possibly 3,000 more undescribed; arguably, the largest animal family, with the estimated 60,000 species worldwide (up to 100,000, according to some estimates. Those numbers mean that species identifications can be very challenging. Your individual looks very similar to Lymeon orbus based on this BugGuide image, but your individual lacks an ovipositor, making it a male, and your individual has a black band on the hind leg lacking in the images we have located of Lymeon orbus. So, we are certain that this is an Ichneumon Wasp, we are nearly certain it is a male, and beyond that, we need to defer to real experts. If you find any closer visual matches, please let us know.

Subject: Chrysalis perhaps ?? Geographic location of the bug: Cape Town South Africa Date: 09/13/2018 Time: 06:46 PM EDT Your letter to the bugman: Hi there I found this on our hose keeper. I have never seen this before and wonder if you could please identify it please ? Thank you sincerely. Cheryl How you want your letter signed: Cheryl Combes

What’s That Pupa???

Dear Cheryl, We are quite certain we have a similar looking hanging pupa in our archives, but we cannot remember its identity this morning. We are currently very pressed for time, so we are posting your image as unidentified and we hope one of our readers will be able to provide a comment with its identity.

Update: September 17, 2018: Thanks to comments from both Cesar Crash and Karl, we are now able to link to another Ichneumon pupa in our archives.

Subject: What type of Ichneumon wasp is this? Geographic location of the bug: Indoors, Salem MA Date: 08/04/2018 Time: 02:37 PM EDT Your letter to the bugman: Found this guy flying around my office at approx 8pm in early August. Length is approx 1/2 inch. Head is not black, though thorax mostly is. Can’t find out exactly what kind of Ichneumon he is. Nothing online seems to clearly match How you want your letter signed: Perez

Ichneumon

Dear Perez, Your images would be excellent for identifying this Ichneumon if the identification of Ichneumons was an easy matter. According to BugGuide: “5,000 described spp. in almost 500 genera in the Nearctic Region, possibly 3,000 more undescribed; arguably, the largest animal family, with the estimated 60,000 species worldwide (up to 100,000, according to some estimates).” The most similar looking image we could find on BugGuide regarding the shape of legs, head and antennae is in the genus Banchus, however, the coloration is noticeably different. Alas, we will have to post your images and tag them as unidentified.

Subject: Large gold flying mosquito Geographic location of the bug: Crossville, TN Date: 08/01/2018 Time: 01:01 AM EDT Your letter to the bugman: I got bit by this gold flying insect and it felt like a sting? Just trying to identify How you want your letter signed: HH

Short Tailed Ichneumon

Dear HH, This is a parasitoid Short-Tailed Ichneumon, probably in the genus Ophion. We were surprised to learn many years ago that this group is rather unique among Ichneumons in that they are capable of stinging humans. According to BugGuide: “Most all Ophion larva are parasites of caterpillars.”